Kimora Lee Simmons Says ‘Real Housewives’ Is a ‘No for Now’ Amid Casting Rumors (Exclusive)

Kimora Lee Simmons isn’t quite ready to grab her diamond yet. The model and Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane alum told PopCulture.com that she’s not interested in joining the drama on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, despite interest from both Bravo and fans, but thinks about a possible return to television “all the time.”

“I think it’s a no for now,” Simmons told PopCulture about possibly joining RHOBH as part of her partnership with Smile Train for World Smile Day. “I would never say no forever.” The Baby Phat founder said she “love[s] all these women” on the reality show, but clarified she’s never talked to Bravo officially about joining. “I keep hearing that I did, but I did not,” she explained, adding that members of the production team “do call [her] a lot.”

The chaos, bickering and drink-throwing of the Real Housewives don’t exactly appeal to Simmons either. “I’ve been on TV for how long? I started there. … I tried to keep it to a higher note always, and I can get low,” Simmons told PopCulture. “You go low, I can go low – I don’t want to do that. We’re supposed to go high. So, I don’t [want to] be in an environment like that, and I like those women.” 

She continued, “What would I say? Who is going to throw something? Who? Kyle [Richards]? Who?” The Fabulosity: What It Is & How to Get It author asked, “Can I be the one that’s like, ‘Stop this. Stop this,’” before noting that calm and measured behavior wouldn’t exactly get her “good ratings” for the network.

That doesn’t mean Simmons is ruling out a return to reality television. “I think about it all the time. I talk about it all the time. I take meetings about it. [Me and] my kids, they call us,” she revealed. While there have been “so many projects” Simmons has passed on for “different reasons,” the businesswoman said she would “absolutely” sign on for the “right thing.”

“It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of time, respect to all the people that do it,” Simmons explained. “It’s kind of crazy on your life.” With three young boys living at home – Kenzo, 13, Gary, also 13, and Wolf, 7 – and her two older daughters, 22-year-old Ming and 20-year-old Aoki, working with her, there’s a lot going on in Simmons’ life. “It’s interesting. Life is going,” she noted. “We have our different stages, right?”

Simmons’ kids are keeping her busy and smiling the whole time, which is why she’s partnered with the nonprofit Smile Train in honor of World Smile Day on Oct. 7. “[World Smile Day] means to spread a little bit of kindness, an extra hand, spread a smile,” Simmons said. The TV personality is working with the world’s largest cleft-focused organization, which provides free corrective surgery to children born with cleft lips and palates to do just that, delving into what makes people smile in these turbulent times.

“For me, I always say it’s my kids. … I also say that they’re the biggest thing that makes me smile, and they’re the biggest pain in my side, and they’re the biggest source of my happy tears, my sad tears, and all the tears in between,” Simmons told PopCulture. “It’s really what connects me to an organization like Smile Train because it’s all about the kids – as a community, it’s about the kids for me.”